Robert B Stone Blogs

100 Years Ago: A Family Tragedy

Frieda Blustein cropped
Freda Blustein, 1894-1919

One hundred years ago, on January 30, 1919, the mother of Robert B. Stone, Freda Blustein, died at age 24.  Daughter of Polish immigrants in New York City, Freda was one of the estimated 50,000,000 global victims of the great influenza pandemic of 1918.  In addition to Robert, age 2, she left behind daughter Gladys, age 4.

This ad, which appeared in the New York Times exactly one year after her death, summarizes a family’s love for one who died so young:

Jan 30 1920 Memorial Notice for Freda Blustein in NYT